September 2023 - ChimeraX-users - RBVI Mailing Lists

Surface representation - Dots
by Dennis Dannecker 04 Oct '23

04 Oct '23

Hello, I would like to ask a question regarding the surface representation of protein molecules in ChimeraX. I remember from Chimera that one could very customize the surface representation in terms of probe size, vertices density, and dot size used in the dot surface representation. While ChimeraX also allows to show dot surface representation, does it also allow for setting these attributes? But the more important question of mine is, can one export/extract the coordinates (spherical or cartesian) of the dots generated during dot surface representation. I would be interested in a file that holds the coordinates of these dots/particles around the molecule. In principal that should be possible, but as always, how amenable is that data? Thank you very much. Cheers Dennis

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Speeding up commands from cxc
by Alexander Hung Lee 02 Oct '23

02 Oct '23

Hello everyone, I'm working to automate making movies from 10,000 frame trajectories. Currently, my cxc contains the following commands windowsize 1920 1080 set bgColor white view zalign ligand inFrontOf #1 sel protein surface; surface color salmon; transparency protein 60 target s sel :UNL color sel dark slate gray; color sel byhetero sel :SIA color sel dim gray; color sel byhetero sel :UNL hbonds :UNL reveal true surface zone #1 nearAtoms ligand distance 15 select zone ligand 15; select add ligand select ~sel ~cartoon sel delete sel ~sel view ligand movie record supersample 4 perframe "~label; label hbondatoms" ; coordset #1 1,10000,50; wait 200; ~perframe movie encode output hbond.mp4 bitrate 6000 framerate 4 The above takes ~ 30 mins, and it's something I would like to do for whole libraries I'm screening. I think the longest process is "hbonds :UNL reveal true" while second longest is movie record and perframe. Is there a way to speed this up? Is there a way to take advantage of multi-threading if it isn't already enabled? If multi-threading is already being used, what can I change to be more efficient? I deleted the parts that I didn't need "delete sel" since they're not involved in the binding site, and I thought it would help speed up surface calculations while recording. Regards, Alex Lee PhD Student Woods Research Group<https://woodsgroup.franklinresearch.uga.edu/> Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Complex Carbohydrate Research Center University of Georgia 315 Riverbend Rd. Athens, GA 30602 Email: ahl63010(a)uga.edu Mobile: (470) 641-3884

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Color info
by Margulies, David (NIH/NIAID) [E] 29 Sep '23

29 Sep '23

If I color, say, “bychain” how do I get the info on what the displayed color is. Is there an info color command? David H. Margulies, MD, PhD Chief, Molecular Biology Section Laboratory of Immune System Biology National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health Bldg. 10; Room 11D12 10 Center Drive Bethesda, MD 20892-1892 Email: dmargulies(a)niaid.nih.gov<mailto:dmargulies@niaid.nih.gov>, dhm(a)nih.gov<mailto:dhm@nih.gov> Ph: 301-496-6429 Fax: 301-480-7352 Web: https://www.niaid.nih.gov/research/david-margulies-md-phd “Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to place loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain.” – executive order 12674, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/02/17/2016-03214/standards-o…<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.federalregister.go…> Disclaimer: The information in this e-mail and any of its attachments is confidential and may contain sensitive information. It should not be used by anyone who is not the original intended recipient. If you have received this e-mail in error please inform the sender and delete it from your mailbox or any other storage devices. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases shall not accept liability for any statements made that are sender’s own and not expressly made on behalf of the NIAID by one of its representatives.

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wildcard used within SAVE command
by 洪冉 28 Sep '23

28 Sep '23

Hi all, I have been trying to produce some high-resolution pictures recently using ChimeraX. And "save C:/xxxx/xxxx/test.png" was used to produce the pic, then I had to change the context "test" into each structure name manually. e.g. save C:/xxxx/xxxx/benzene.png or save C:/xxxx/xxxx/methanol.png Actually, the structure loaded into chimeras was with the right name. Hence, I want to ask for help if is there a wildcard that could be used in the "save" command for saving the picture with the name of the structure. e.g. save C:/xxxx/xxxx/${nameofstruc}.png Of course, it does not work. I just want to give this as an example to suggest my opinions. Thanks in advance. Yours, Ran

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How to activate the Extract button in Segment Map function?
by Bo Chen 25 Sep '23

25 Sep '23

Dear ChimeraX, I tried to use Segment Map to remove some portions of the cryoEM map, and extract the selected portion, but the extract button remains shaded. The only tab in the "other tools" row that appears to be activated is "Fit". I have the most recent version of ChimeraX installaed(Sept 19). Could you give me some hints how to activate the extract in "Other tools" under the "Shortcut options" in "Segment Map"? Thanks! Bo

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Changing mesh size to save as STL file
by Arthur Melo 25 Sep '23

25 Sep '23

Dear colleagues, Is there a way to refine or decimate a mesh of a map to save as an STL file? All the best, Arthur

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symmetrizing the model
by Dmitry Semchonok 22 Sep '23

22 Sep '23

Dear colleagues, A very quick question - what is the command to apply the symmetry to the 3D model? (please provide a usage example if possible). Will the soft generate the symmetrized model after this command application? I found the one for Chimera but not for ChimeraX. Many thanks. Sincerely, Dmitry

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Equivalents to sop split & mask?
by Oliver Clarke 21 Sep '23

21 Sep '23

Hi, Is there a direct equivalent to the command “sop split” in ChimeraX? In the documentation for the “surface” command, I can see that there is an option to split by color, but not to split into individually selectable blobs. We use this a lot in Chimera, as a quick way to make a starting point for a mask to use in refinement, so it would be great to have in ChimeraX too. Also, is there an equivalent to the “mask” command from Chimera? I can’t seem to find it but perhaps it has a different name? Cheers Oli

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Labels of selected residues even with their model name
by svle＠tiscali.it 21 Sep '23

21 Sep '23

Hi, I have used matchmaker with four loaded models to compare the side chains orientation of some selected residues. It is possible to label the selected residues even with the information of the model name they belong to? Thanks. Saverio

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Open and play volume series in ChimeraX
by Wout Oosterheert 20 Sep '23

20 Sep '23

Dear ChimeraX team, I’m currently trying to open a volume and play a volume series in ChimeraX. According to the website (https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/trajectories.html) opening a volume series should work like this: “Volume data can be opened as a series with open, employing filename wildcard symbols or globbing as needed to specify multiple files in a single command”. This seems simple enough, I indeed can open the volumes as a group. However, when I then try to play the series using: vseries play #1 direction oscillate loop true, I get the error: no volume series specified. Could you explain to me how I can get my group of volumes recognized as a volume series? The vseries page (https://www.cgl.ucsf.edu/chimerax/docs/user/commands/vseries.html) is very elaborate, but I cannot find alternative options of opening my volumes as a series. I know how to do things in regular Chimera, but would prefer to stick with ChimeraX because I make all my other figures with it. Thank you very much in advance!! Best, Wout Wout Oosterheert, PhD Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology Otto-Hahn-Str. 11 44227 Dortmund, Germany Phone +49-(0)231-133-2357 Email: wout.oosterheert(a)mpi-dortmund.mpg.de<mailto:wout.oosterheert@mpi-dortmund.mpg.de>

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